The nine essential questions on Identity,
Change, and Evaluation we call ICE-9 can be applied to any
technology, including ICE-9. We apply the tool to itself on this
page. See how students have applied it to
Legostm,
soccer, and
missiles.
Watch an interview
with a parent.

1. What is it?

"It" is a flexible curriculum of nine
essential questions for understanding and evaluating technology.
Beyond that, it is also a general approach to critical analysis, so we use it on
this webpage to understand and evaluate itself. The nine questions
group into Identity, Change, and Evaluation (see the color pyramid above),
so we call it ICE-9.

2. Why do we use it?

Middle
school classrooms use ICE-9 to think critically about technology, though
they can use it as a general approach to critical analysis. They
also use it as a structure for independent and team projects (for example, soccer technology or
Legos). Schools
use it to teach about all technology, not just computers (and, unlike
computers, they don't have to upgrade ICE-9 every few years).

3. Where does it come from?

ICE-9
was developed by KnowledgeContext, an
educational nonprofit corporation
based just south of California's Silicon Valley. In a way, ICE-9
came from technology's ever accelerating rate of change and ever
increasing impact on all of us. When technology was a simple wheel,
it did not change over many generations and knowing little more than how
to operate it was sufficient. At the dawn of the 21st
century, we also need to understand and evaluate technology. See a
concept map or
read
about it.

4. How does it work?

ICE-9
is a framework of nine essential questions. In our
curriculum, each question becomes a
classroom lesson, with teacher and student handouts, hook stories,
activities, and guided reflection. In our
book,
each question becomes a chapter, probing for answers in technology's
history and possible futures. Read a
student
interview with the author of the book. The
curriculum can be downloaded and printed from this website and used in
middle school classrooms.

5. How does it change?

ICE-9's nine essential questions could
have been asked 1000 years ago and may be asked 100 years from now.
The ways we answer these timeless questions may be nearly as enduring, but
we will continue to find new answers. And the ICE-9 framework will
continue to flexibly accommodate them.

6. How does it change us?

ICE-9
teaches us how to ask good questions, how to critically analyze almost
anything, how to understand technology, and how to evaluate it. We
are changed because our perspective is changed. No longer do we
"miss the forest for the trees" by standing so close to technology that it
is seen only a computer or a cellular phone to be used. By stepping back
and seeing technology in its greater context, we can decide when it serves
us and when it does not. Watch
video of a
student evaluating "missile" technology.

7. How do we change it?

We change ICE-9 in two ways. First,
we spread it, showing others how important it is to think critically about
technology. Getting the curriculum into more schools provides the
ICE-9 tool to more students (click to see
how you can
help). And, second, we (teachers, students,
concerned citizens, and KnowledgeContext) improve the
curriculum with hook stories and activities
suitable for other age groups, or with alternate activities.

8. What are its costs &
benefits?

ICE-9 benefits students by showing how to
understand and evaluate technology, giving a general approach to critical
analysis, providing a cross-disciplinary thread through core content
areas, providing structure for independent research projects, and
demonstrating how to ask good questions. ICE-9 benefits teachers by
showing how their own education and broad experience form a context for
technology, allowing them to teach technology whether or not they are
technical experts. The ICE-9 curriculum costs nothing to download
and use in a classroom. See more
benefits.

9. How do we evaluate it?

The ICE-9 curriculum includes a before and
after assessment of how students are able to critically evaluate a
technology. Beyond its individual impact, we evaluate ICE-9 on how
many people it reaches, trusting that the more valuable it is to people,
the more likely they will share it with friends, family, and teachers.
Watch video clips of
students
commenting on the curriculum.